Bad-Good Deeds

An Old Testament verse often comes to mind. It is from Isaiah 64 and says, “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags. . . .” (vs. 6). Isaiah included himself, a man of God, in this confession. His words beg the question — how can a good man do what appears to be righteous deeds, then confess that they are “unclean” and “filthy.” What does he know about himself that others cannot see?

The same concept pops up in the New Testament. Jesus is explaining that not all who say, “Lord, Lord” to Him are genuine believers. He then illustrates these people with this:

Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (Matthew 7:22-23)

Jesus knew something about these people that others could not see. They did what appeared to be good things, but He condemned them. However, unlike Isaiah, they didn’t seem to be aware that anything was wrong.

This reminds me how a person can be well meaning yet disconnected from God and from doing His will. It can happen to prophets who speak His Word and to lay people who are involved in Christian service. My reading today offers three suggestions to help me avoid becoming disconnected and winding up in the same condemnation.

First, I need to watch out that I am not preoccupied with being religiously busy. That is, I should not focus on attending, listening, singing, or otherwise being busy with “church stuff” that makes me look like I’m serving God when I never spend time with Him to find out what He wants. I must never merely do all the “nice Christian things” and consider that is my “ministry.”

Another danger, particularly as I get older, is reliance on the past. I was baptized way back then, attended and taught Sunday school for years, belonged to various churches as we moved around North American, and now have an extensive spiritual resume. None of that means that I am right with God right now. Walking with Jesus is a moment by moment thing and I cannot rest on my resume.

The third danger is one I particularly need to guard against — gleaning spiritual knowledge for its own sake. I love to study and have an intense interest in theology, but this is useless if I am not applying what I learn to my life. God’s goal is that I become more like Jesus Christ. I do that by gazing into His glory AND by being obedient to His Word. The Bible says that “knowledge puffs up” — a polite way of saying that I need to avoid having a fat head.

Besides all that, Christians can fake it. We know the words. We know the activities. We can go through the motions and even appear successful. But God looks at the heart. He knows a bad-good deed when He sees one. Even though His death covers such sin, we are in a shaky place. It is, of course, worse for those who do not believe in Him. He will condemn all their “goodness” because He knows their heart, and dismiss them from His presence.

As for those of us who believe, and whose sins are covered by His blood, we still need to beware. Like Isaiah, I need to recognize that in God’s sight bad-good deeds lack integrity and make me a hypocrite, and, like Isaiah, I need to confess such activity for what it is, unclean, filthy rags.